Fnix Trohy: A ew shot at Euopean glory for semi-pofesional and amateur clubs

Only the congregation wasn't there to greet a side oozing with the world's biggest stars, instead they were waiting for non-leaguers FC United of Manchester, who in June won the inaugural Fenix Trophy - a European competition for semi-professional and amateur clubs먹튀사이트

In doing so, FC United - a breakaway club set up by dissenting Manchester United fans in 2005 and currently in the seventh tier of English football - had earned themselves a special status.

"We were the only English club to win a European trophy last season, so I'll take that," laughs Reds boss Neil Reynolds.

"To bring the trophy home through the airport and having my children see us winning it was incredible. We can say we've won a European trophy and nobody can take that away from us.

"Our fans have seen it happen with Manchester United, now they've seen it with FC United."

The idea of the Fenix Trophy was first mooted in late 2020 by Alessandro Aleotti, chairman of Italian non-league side Brera FC.

Aleotti established Brera in 2000 with a vision of becoming Milan's third football club. He saw European competition as the perfect step towards that goal, so with the help of his son Leo, Brera's general manager, he set about creating one.

The name Fenix is an acronym먹튀검증커뮤니티 representing the tournament's core values: friendly; European; non-professional; innovative; and xenial, which comes from the Ancient Greek word xenos, indicating an attitude of hospitality towards strangers.

The Aleottis didn't simply want any old clubs to become a Fenix member, though, and started searching for non-professional outfits from across the continent that fit their criteria.

While there were certain logistical and competitive factors to consider - such as proximity to a major airport and ensuring teams played between the sixth and eighth tiers in their respective nations - Leo says they wanted "to find clubs who were exceptional, iconic on some level and gave visibility to non-professional football".

For last year's entrants, that meant clubs that have a storied past but have fallen on hard times, or ones with a clear social or community goal, such as being supporter-owned like FC United.

Among the competition were two-time Belgian champions KSK Beveren, who lost to Barcelona in the 1978-79 Cup Winners' Cup토토사이트 semi-final, and Amsterdam's DWS, who won the Eredivisie title in 1964 and count Netherlands greats Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard as youth-team alumni.

Brera also have their own link to history thanks to their home, Arena Civica. The ground first opened in 1807, making it the oldest stadium in mainland Europe, and was the former home of both big Milan clubs before they moved to the San Siro.

At the other end of the scale are Prague Raptors, a side based in the Czech capital that prides itself on providing an inclusive environment for all.

"We weren't in the first section of clubs Brera were speaking to and think we were the last ones they approached," says Prague Raptors' English president Daz Moss, who started the club in 2017 on the whim of his five-year-old son Lukas.

"We were selected because we'd done a project a few months before with AKS Zly, a Polish side that were in last year's tournament, to get more girls into football, because we want to break down barriers and are very pro-diversity.

"It was amazing for us. It shines a light on all the things we're trying to do. It really helps in terms of people메이저토토사이트 noticing us and even just down to shirt sales, we've seen a rise in countries we've been involved with."